The digital home is now becoming more complex with the myriad of new and emerging digital devices intended to address many user and consumer needs such as communication, entertainment, privacy and security, etc. However, given the complexity of the emerging digital home and digital environments generally, users who are technologically challenged may find it a daunting and intimidating task to manage their home networks and interconnected digital devices. Moreover, new paradigms are emerging oriented to delivering media content to and the consuming of media content at the home. Many of these paradigms rely on communication of application specific data to and/or from the Internet, as opposed to conventional telephone or broadcast video type applications. The protection of received Internet-sourced media content in addition to user-generated media content is additionally an important aspect that may be inadequately addressed by the technologically challenged user. With respect to Internet based data, most of the content delivery solutions are provided to the digital home networks through availability of the “two-foot” interface (i.e. the PC). It is relatively cumbersome to bring this content to the “ten-foot” interface (e.g. the television).
Although currently still cumbersome, devices exist to help users manage their digital devices. For example, some computers have been configured as standalone device management systems that manage the attached user devices (endpoint devices). Devices have also been offered that provide a gateway between a wide area network and customer premises systems, and some of those device enable a user to manage devices in the user premises remotely, and so on. However, with these computer/gateway devices comes a challenge of connecting to endpoint point devices and/or connecting the computer or gateway to the wide area network. Normally, a user premises houses only one (or a few at most) gateway device. The ease with which the user connects his endpoint devices to the gateway depends largely on the endpoint devices. For example, endpoint devices with only wired interfaces limit the location of the device within wire-reach of the gateway. As the gateway capability for managing multiple devices grow, so to does the number of cables and wires running from the devices to the gateway and/or between the gateway and the wide area network connection at the premises. Furthermore, the number of wired devices attachable to the gateway is limited to the number of ports available for the specific device. For example, for an endpoint device that uses an RJ45 interface, the user is limited to the number of endpoint devices as he has RJ45 ports on his gateway device. Often, devices are usually standardized to particular interfaces limiting the use of the interface to a particular class of devices.
The location of the devices is limited to the range of the gateway's antenna or the reach of the device's wires. As the signal degrades with distance, so to, does the quality of the connection and in some cases, the user experience. Often, the setup and management of these devices, especially wireless devices, remain daunting and intimidating for the non-technical user. Furthermore, in both the wired and wireless devices, interfaces evolve at different rates for different devices. Often, to employ the latest endpoint device on the market, the user may have to purchase a new gateway for the new interface card for the user's computer or gateway. However, the interfaces for some devices evolve very slowly creating a problem of an interface generation gap.
A need exists for techniques and/or devices to simplify the overall management of services and applications available to the digital home or even the small enterprise. There is an associated need to couple communications between the endpoint device and any gateway/management device deployed to simplify overall service/system management, and a related need to easily configure and manage communications with endpoint devices. Techniques or devices to address such needs should reduce the complexity of the maintenance, upgrading, and operation of even the more basic needs addressed by emerging digital endpoint devices and networks. Such techniques or devices should also reduce the complexity of delivering content to the “ten-foot” interface, and prepare for the technological evolution of the endpoints. However, such solutions must also address issues of communications between devices in the home in an effective seamless manner, often while minimizing or avoiding needs for new wiring or the like in the premises.
A need exists for a new paradigm, with improved convenience for the user and easier management for the application service provider. In that regard, it would be desirable to provide a multi-services application gateway device that provides not only a variety of IP-based communication services, but also offers a centralized management capability for application services. Additionally, it would be desirable to provide a communication bridge that provides a means to extend the logical and physical reach of such a gateway device, allow scalability of the service area, and allow easy upgrades of the services and applications provided by the gateway.